Telehealth Can Help During Coronavirus Pandemic But Health Clinics Can’t Charge For It

March 19, 2020

State officials are urging the federal government to waive restrictions that prevent nonprofit health clinics from getting paid for providing care by telephone to Medi-Cal patients.

Many medical centers are encouraging patients to utilize telehealth services to keep them from overcrowding facilities which could stress the system and increase the risk of coronavirus transmission. But the government-funded health insurance that many low-income patients rely on does not pay providers for appointments that don’t happen face-to-face.

That means health clinics like the nonprofit Family Health Centers of San Diego won’t receive payment for the nearly 300 daily telehealth appointments it began providing since the global outbreak reached San Diego County.